A total of 2,000 bottles of beer and liquor worth around HK$26,000 (US$3,312) was seized in raids on two stores

Three Nepalis were arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of selling liquor without a licence in two stores in Yuen Long, the New Territories.

At 9am, officers from Yuen Long Police Station posing as customers raided two stores on the ground floor of Healey Building Shopping Center on Castle Peak Road and arrested three people of Nepalese origin, Commercial Daily reported.

A 57-year-old woman and a 47-year-old man, both Nepalis, were arrested for selling liquor without a licence. Another 27-year-old Nepalese man was arrested for the same offence and also for breaching the conditions of his stay as he was said to be an asylum seeker.

A total of 2,000 bottles of beer and liquor worth around HK$26,000 (US$3,312) were confiscated from the two stores .

It is understood that the stores sold beer and liquor to their compatriots and other South Asians living nearby, Oriental Daily reported.

Hong Kong police emphasized that selling liquor without a licence is a serious crime. Any offender convicted is liable to a maximum fine of HK$1 million and imprisonment for up to two years.